The MLS season previews are pouring in (yeah the season actually starts in just 3 days, wow!!!) and the pundits seem pretty impressed by what they see happening out here at Rio Tinto. From Ives hyping us as his Western Conference pick and Shaka Hislop singing our praises (video below), to Kyle McCarthy and the peeps over at The Worldwide Leader pegging us high as well, RSL seems to be getting an unprecedented amount of preseason love this year. Here’s to getting the season underway so we can start to validate the praise!

The RSL merch crew is receiving fresh 2009 merchandise on a seemingly daily basis. It seems like everyday we talk to them, they’re putting some new gearon the shelves. There’s definitely some great new stuff that we’re excited to be getting out there. With the home opener just about 2 weeks away (and this weekend’s free Open House vs. the Austin Aztex) it’s time to gear up for the new campaign.

To further the fun, this week’s special merchandise offer is one to take advantage of - spend $100 on merchandise and we’ll hook you up with a free RSL t-shirt. Furthermore, for Friday’s “Real Hours” all remaining 2008 RSL t-shirts and polos will be %50 off…

It was a travel day for the team yesterday and that gave us a perfect opportunity to pick Garth’s brain a bit about the contents of his squad. We played a bit of a word association game with the GM, mentioning players individually and asking him to give us his “stream of consciousness” responses about each player.

We’ll be posting his responses in two groups, starting with the goalkeepers and defenders today and finishing with the midfield and strikeforce tomorrow. Here goes…

GOALKEEPING CONTINGENT: “Very very good … we’ve been in the top 5 in the League in GAA, Nick Rimando was unquestionably our team MVP in 2007 … we also have not one but two terrific young goalkeepers.”

#18 - Nick Rimando - “Nicky continues to be the best shot-stopper in MLS - his distribution is unequalled, and our defenders have the utmost confidence in him.”

#1 - Chris Seitz - “Chris has made big strides, it’s been very good to have him with us for a long stretch of the preseason … Tangible progress has been made, which is great for a young ‘keeper.”

#24 - Kyle Reynish - “A very underrated talent … If people got to see him train day in, day out, they would understand that he’s very good.”

#40- Steve Clark - “He’s another athletic young keeper … with great spirit and attitude.”

THE DEFENDERS: “We have a terrific blend of youth, athleticism and experience … Five guys who have been through all sorts of situations and two tremendous young players … We should be in the top 5 among League defenses.”

#6 - Nat Borchers - “Savvy, smart, and tactically, one of the best defenders in MLS … Nat is boringly consistent, and as a result, consistently successful.”

#4 - Jamison Olave - “The most athletically-gifted defender in the League … He could be utterly dominant with the elimination of concentration lapses.”

#17 - Chris Wingert - “Chris is a major leader of this team … A late-bloomer who continuously gets better.”

#13 - Ian Joy - “Ian is a scrappy, fiery, hardworking, tough, tough player.”

#2 - Tony Beltran - “Tony has an incredible motor, he’s a good soccer player, and has the potential to be an everyday starter.”

#33 - David Horst - “David has enjoyed the best preseason of any player … In the last year, he has taken a huge step forward; now he just needs to play at consistently high level all the time.”

#3 - Robbie Russell - “Robbie has the physical qualities to be an  intimidating, imposing force in MLS … Injuries have taken away chance to take ownership of a position … He has skill and pace, and is certainly the most athletically gifted player to ever play at Duke.”

See you tomorrow with part deux…

Well that’s a wrap folks. RSL capitalized on some quality play over the last week to earn themselves the Carolina Challenge Cup in their first ever try. The guys have got to be pleased with the way things are coming together here in the latter stages of the preseason. It’ll certainly be nice to add another piece of bling to the trophy case and hopefully it will be a harbinger of bigger things to come.

We’ve got a few photos from today’s match below and you can take the jump under the pics to read the full rundown of the day’s events…

RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman challenges TFC's Amado Guevara for possession.

RSL defender David Horst uses his big body to win the ball on the sideline.

RSL playmaker Javier Morales doin' his job, makin' plays!

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Real Salt Lake will be chasing its first trophy of the 2009 season today as they play Toronto FC in the de facto championship game of the Carolina Challenge Cup at 3:00 p.m. MT.

RSL and Toronto both enter today’s title match unbeaten in CCC play. First year entrants RSL kicked off the round robin tournament in convincing fashion beating D.C. United 3-0 before topping the Battery 2-1 Wednesday night. Toronto, wrapping up the club’s third consecutive preseason in Charleston, opened with a 2-1 win over the Battery before going on the beat Eastern Conference rival D.C. United by the same score.

In the event of a draw, RSL will take the CCC title based on a goal differential tiebreaker with a two-goal advantage.

For more Carolina Challenge Cup tidbits, take the jump…

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RSL announced this afternoon that Rio Tinto Stadium will add the U.S. Women’s National Team to its calendar of events for this summer with the defending Olympic champs slated to take on Japan on May 23. The match marks the second trip to Utah for the Women’s squad after their 5-0 victory over Ireland at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 2003.

“We are honored to bring the U.S. Women’s National Team back to Utah and to have them represent U.S. Soccer in the program’s first-ever match at Rio Tinto Stadium,” said RSL and Rio Tinto Stadium President Bill Manning. “To host a national team game on Memorial Day weekend should provide for an incredible experience, and we expect that soccer fans from throughout the Intermountain West will respond and welcome the U.S. Women to Sandy with the same spirit and passion they regularly display for world-class events.”

Tickets will start at just $18 and will go on sale to the public Saturday, March 21, at 10:00 a.m. MT through www.RioTintoStadium.com, by phone at 801.727.2700 (Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and at the Rio Tinto Stadium ticket office (open Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and special hours on Saturday, March 21, starting at 10:00 a.m.). season ticket holders, meanwhile, will be allowed to purchase their tickets through an exclusive presale which will begin on Tuesday, March 17, at 10:00 a.m. MT and conclude on Thursday, March 19 at 2:00 a.m., with tickets available for purchase exclusively online through www.RioTintoStadium.com.

This is shaping up to be a great summer out here at Rio Tinto Stadium and we couldn’t be happier to see the Women’s National Team added to the agenda…

Greg and Shep are back again and this time they’ve got their 2009 Western Conference predictions for all of us. Take a gander at the video below to see if they throw RSL any props (okay, we probably gave it away with the title, but they definitely do like what’s happening out here at Rio Tinto. It worth a look…

Just a reminder that tomorrow starting at 12:00 p.m., RSL Season Ticket holders can join us out here at Rio Tinto Stadium to pick up their tickets for the 2009 MLS season. That’s fun and all, but it’s really just the beginning of the Saturday festivities this week as we’ve got a slew of things going on that should get folks fired up for the upcoming season.

The whole thing starts at noon when the Rio Tinto doors open for pickup. After you get your tickets, it’s time to head right down the street to South Valley Harley-Davidson (8886 South Sandy Parkway) to get the real party started. RSL’s own John Kimball will be taking on KUTV General Manager Dave Phillips in a Food Network-style Chili throwdown. The two both claim to make a mean batch of chili (and who are we to doubt them?) and they’ll be showing off their chops tomorrow.

You can’t have a chili cookoff without judges, so that’s where all of you come into play. We need each and everyone of you show up and give your verdict on the contest.

On top of the chili, we’ll also have some pretty sweet giveaways (including the first four 2009 autographed RSL jerseys of the season that we’ll dish out one at a time on the hour, starting at 1:00 p.m.) Leo’s also going to be hanging out partying up a storm.

As soon as the cookoff finishes up, we’ll be hosting a chat with RSL representatives John Kimball, John Koluder and Elliot Fall taking questions from fans on anything and everything RSL. It should be a great event and a fun way to get things ramped up with the season just around the corner. We’ll see you there!!!

As great as 2008 was, we never had the chance to say this last year… it’s two victories in a row for Real Salt Lake! Utah’s team traded free kick goals with the Charleston Battery before seeing captain Kyle Beckerman hit a tremendous game-winner in the 77th minute, lifting RSL to a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Challenge Cup tournament hosts at Blackbaud Stadium. The win puts RSL back into a first-place tie with Toronto FC after the second of three matchdays in the CCC, with both teams sitting on the maximum six points heading into their de facto championship match on Satuday.

We know you’re a stickler for the details, so take the jump to see the blow-by-blow rundown from tonight’s contest! (special thanks to Battery Communicatiosn guru Andrew Bell for the photos)

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Good news for everyone wanting to catch their first full-match glimpse of the 2009 Claret-and-Cobalt, as our friends at Toronto FC have just informed us that they will be streaming BOTH of today’s Carolina Challenge Cup contests through their Toronto FC TV website.

Make sure to come on back to Behind the Shield closer to kickoff for the direct link to the webcast, or just head on over to www.TorontoFC.ca to get the link from there. Remember, the RSL-Charleston game is slated for a 5:15 p.m. MT start, while the Toronto-D.C. United clash starts within the hour at 3:00 p.m. And for those of you that can’t view the streaming video of the match, we’ll continue to provide details as they happen here at BtS.

Also fresh from Charleston is the RSL starting line-up for this evening’s affair against the host Battery:

GK: Chris Seitz

DEF: Tony Beltran - David Horst - Nat Borchers - Ian Joy

MID: Jean Alexandre (deep) - Clint Mathis (R) - Ned Grabavoy (L) - Andy Williams (#10)

FWD: Robbie Findley - Joe Zewe (trialist)